Publications by authors named "Michael Mark"

Background: While formalized treatment recommendations for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by a multidisciplinary tumor board (MDT) have been associated with improved patient care and potentially improved survival, there is no data on the prognostic impact of individual adherence to initial MDT treatment recommendations in patients (pts) with stage III NSCLC.

Patients And Methods: Multimodal treatment data for stage III NSCLC pts between 2014 and 2020 were collected from 3 Swiss referral centers. All pts underwent MDT before treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Neoadjuvant or perioperative treatment, including an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI), has emerged as a new standard for patients with resectable stage III NSCLC. Nevertheless, approximately 20% of patients who start neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy will not undergo definitive surgery. Little is known about these patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The management of critically ill patients, arriving at the emergency department (ED), requires structured care in critical care facilities, particularly in the resuscitation room. This study examines the significance of initial vital signs and blood gas analysis (BGA)-derived values as clinically useful early indicators of mortality risk in critically ill patients, both during in the resuscitation room care and within the following 30 days, with a focus on evaluating the individual predictive performance of accessible clinical parameters.

Methods: We pooled data from two consecutive retrospective observational studies in a German university ED to analyze an unselected patient population of non-traumatic critically ill patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objective: Because of the lack of effective targeted treatment options, docetaxel has long been the standard second-line therapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, including the Kirsten rat sarcoma virus (KRAS) G12C mutation. The CodeBreak 200 trial demonstrated that sotorasib, a new drug targeting the G12C-mutated KRAS protein, modestly improved progression-free survival compared with docetaxel in patients whose cancer had progressed after receiving platinum chemotherapy and programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) / programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors as first-line treatment. Consequently, sotorasib received temporary approval in Switzerland.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: SCLC is characterized by aggressiveness and limited treatment options, especially in extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC). Immunotherapy added to the platinum-etoposide combination has recently become standard in this setting. This retrospective study aims to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of chemo-immunotherapy in patients with ES-SCLC, focusing on subpopulations excluded from clinical trials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study on the combination of ipilimumab (ipi) and nivolumab (nivo) for treating malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) in Switzerland revealed real-world survival and safety data, confirming its status as a standard-of-care after positive clinical trial results (CheckMate-743).
  • Among the 109 patients treated from November 2017 to March 2023, the objective response rate to ipi-nivo was 21% for first-line treatment and 15% for second or further-line treatments, with median overall survival being 12.6 months for first-line and 6.9 months for second-line.
  • The treatment was generally well-t
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Acute bleeding often occurs in a wide variety of forms in clinical emergency medicine. In traumatic bleeding, soft tissue injuries to the head or extremities are common, while severe bleeding is less common in chest injuries or pelvic trauma. In nontraumatic emergencies, gastrointestinal bleeding is the leading cause, but many other bleeding entities are possible.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Athletic performance can be measured with a variety of clinical and functional assessment techniques. There is a need to better understand the relationship between the brain's electrical activity and the body's physiological performance capabilities in real-time while performing physical tasks related to sport. Orthopedic functional assessments used to monitor the neuroplastic properties of the central nervous system lack objectivity and/or pertinent functionality specific to sport.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The establishment of a resuscitation room management for nontraumatic critically ill children appears to make sense. This study collected data of pediatric patients suffering from nontraumatic critically ill conditions treated in a resuscitation room.

Methods: The retrospective OBSERvE-DUS-PED study (November 2019-October 2022) recorded pediatric patients (age < 18 years) who were admitted to the emergency department (ED) for resuscitation room care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Patients with bone metastases from solid tumors often have additional treatment with bone targeted agents (BTAs) to avoid symptomatic skeletal events (SSEs) such as clinically significant pathological fracture leading toradiation therapy or surgery to the bone, spinal cord compression, or hypercalcemia. The absolute value of BTA treatment in the era of immunotherapy (IO) is unknown.

Methods: Patients with bone metastases treated with immunotherapy within the Alpine Tumor Immunology Registry were compared based on whether they received an additional BTA such as denosumab or zoledronic acid.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Common side effects of taxane chemotherapy are nail toxicity and peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) causing severe impact on the quality of life. Different methods of cryotherapy to prevent these side effects have been tested. We investigated the use of machine-controlled cooling of hands and feet to reduce nail toxicity and CIPN in patients receiving taxane chemotherapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The abstract of a research paper functions to attract readers and highlight the clinical significance of a research project in a broadly appealing manner. Abstract structure is commonly dictated by the target journal, however, a basic style typically follows the "Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion" structure of introduction, materials/methods, results, and discussion/conclusion. The abstract itself is commonly the initial accessible portion of a research paper, so writing in an engaging while informative manner is imperative for increasing manuscript views and citations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

With the vast increase in spinal surgery research and accessibility, critical evaluation of studies is paramount. Historically, P values and confidence intervals have been the gold standard, but more recently, the inclusion of the Fragility Index has brought a more holistic approach. The Fragility Index aims to communicate the robustness of a trial and how tenuous statistical significance may be.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Penetrating injuries are a rare but recurring emergency situation in the out-of-hospital and in-hospital emergency settings. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and characteristics of injuries associated with penetrating violence across a German metropolitan region over a 5-year period.

Material And Methods: In the retrospective study, a database query of the control center of the Düsseldorf rescue service area was used to identify and descriptively analyze all rescue service operations with penetrating violence-associated injuries in the years 2015, 2017, and 2019.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Dysregulated MET is an established oncogenic driver in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MET signaling may also suppress anticancer immune responses. Concomitant MET inhibition with capmatinib (a MET inhibitor) synergistically enhanced the efficacy of immunotherapies in murine cancer models, regardless of tumor dependency to MET signaling.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The safety and efficacy of first-line durvalumab in PS2 patients with advanced NSCLC is unknown. Here, we present the primary analysis of first-line durvalumab in PS2 patients, unsuitable for combination chemotherapy.

Methods: In this single-arm, multicenter, phase II trial patients with PD-L1 positive (tumor proportional score ≥25%), advanced NSCLC with PS2, received four-weekly durvalumab 1500 mg.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Occupation-related noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) has both negative economic and quality of life implications. The risk spine surgeons undertake in regards to NIHL during operative intervention is unknown. Governing bodies, including the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, have recommended exposure limits not to exceed 85 decibels (dB) over 8 hours.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Patients with life-limiting or palliative illnesses represent a challenge for emergency departments because, despite the growing availability of specialized outpatient palliative care resources at home, patients often present during symptom exacerbations or when family caregivers become overwhelmed. Also, as life-limiting illnesses are frequently first diagnosed there and treatment goals are adjusted, it appears advantageous to establish early connections between emergency patients with palliative needs and palliative care resources. The objective of this study was to conduct a survey evaluating the availability of fundamental palliative care knowledge and palliative care structures in clinical acute and emergency medicine.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Reference Managers (RMs) are software applications designed to build web-based libraries to organize, annotate, and reference literature when compiling a research study. With an ever-increasing volume of literature, RMs not only serve to centralize information but also allow seamless in-text citation and 1-click bibliography creation, with the ability to format each citation based on target journal specifications. There are many different RMs available for utilization; some of the most popular are EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley, and Paperpile.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, is a drug extracted from the plant known for its psychotropic and medicinal properties. It has been used for healing purposes during ancient times, although its psychoactive components led to its restricted use in medicine. Nonetheless, cannabis is found to have modulatory effects on the endocannabinoid system exhibiting its medicinal role in the gastrointestinal (GI) system.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Design: Retrospective cohort.

Objective: Investigate the relationship between preoperative benzodiazepine exposure and postoperative opioid use in patients undergoing primary 1 or 2-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF).

Background: Little is known about the effect of preoperative benzodiazepine exposure on postoperative opioid use in spine surgery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Determining SARS-CoV-2 immunity is critical to assess COVID-19 risk and the need for prevention and mitigation strategies. We measured SARS-CoV-2 Spike/Nucleocapsid seroprevalence and serum neutralizing activity against Wu01, BA.4/5 and BQ.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Few studies address the care of critically ill non-traumatic patients in the emergency department (ED). The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiology, management, and outcome of these patients.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we identified and analyzed data from all consecutive adult critically ill non-traumatic ED patients treated from March 2018 to February 2019.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF